Fayoumis Crosses

[davemonkey]

I'm just curious if folks can ID breeds just looking at hatchlings. Is it possible at all, or can this "skill" be developed?

The reason I ask is that I was going to post a poll or some other "make your guess" just for fun based on my newly hatched chick. But then I thought...it won't be much fun if it's impossible to tell anyway!

So, can this be done? If it can, then I'll post a pic of my chick (and no giving answers for those who followed my other thread).

 

[racinchickins]

Here's a pic of my fayoumi/welsummer pullet and then one of my full Fayouni hen.

 

[davemonkey]

I'm going to shamelessly quote from my other thread and start using this one to post updated pics as she grows, to keep track.

Her attitude is ALL from her papa (the Roo, not me...she's the exact opposite of me). She is feisty, chirps a lot, and likes to be independent, and does not like to be held unless it's on her terms (sitting on an arm or finger where she can move about as she pleases). Her looks, so far, are like her mama.

This pic is at 1 wk old.

 

[davemonkey]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! No, it can't be!! My all-star 6-week-old brood "hen", that adopted an entire clutch of chicks when "she" was just 4 weeks old and has been teaching them to forage and fend..."she's", "she's"...CROWING!!!!!!!! Ugh.

I don't know whether to cry, or to be excited that I have such a good natured cockerel that has stepped up to the plate in a time of need. Pullets can crow sometimes, right? RIGHT? RIGHT?!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm with Cynthia, those naked neck birds kinda skeeve me out

.

I thought at first maybe they were one of those birds you just needed to see in person, one that didn't photograph well, but nope, I saw one. Not for me, I'm afraid.

For your enjoyment, I did find these two interesting videos on youtube, one of a Fayoumi rooster doing tricks and one of EF hen beating the snot out of a possum (kept wondering when the owner was going to get that nasty thing out of the coop and if she was broody or just an EF!). These belong to anyone here? Note in the last video, the other chickens are cowering while that tiny, feisty EF hen holds the line. At first, I thought it was a rooster and the hen took over, but when I watched it the second time, I realized it was all her!

 

[davemonkey]

Quick Update. She is 3 weeks old (these were taken yesterday). I am starting to see some Fayoumis-like feathering, but definitely can still see the EE colors as well. Honestly, I thought she'd just turn out brown, but definitely going to have some white speckled in there at the very least. Personality-wise, she is ALL Fayoumis. She does NOT like to be played with or handled. She will sit on your arm or shoulder contently enough, but you had better keep those hands to yourself.

 

[davemonkey]

Fayuoumis are said to develop QUICKLY compared to other breeds, and that trait has not been lost on my cross. She is at 4 weeks now, and has 10 younger "siblings" (along with 8 other "cousins" from a different flock's eggs) that will be 1 week tomorrow. 2 days after introducing the younger chicks into the brooder (at 1 day old) our older chick "allowed" them to adopt her as their mother. At first it was more of an annoying "we're all going to follow you around whether you like it or not". But yesterday I noticed her actively teaching them to scratch and dig, and to eat certain plants in the large outdoor brooder. I also noticed her literally jump and peck at one of the adult hens who stuck its face up against the brooder to check them out. It seemed like she was protecting her "brood", so to speak, so I decided to test it out. I had my younger daughter go into the brooder and nudge them all into the yard. Skylark headed to a spot next to our house, and all the chicks followed. She continued teaching them what to eat and how to eat it, and when an older hen came by to check it out, she got defensive (though we didn't let them get too close because our hens could easily kill the whole lot of them if they were so inclined). I am facinated by this behavior in such a young chick.

 

[davemonkey]

Now for the Fayoumis.


Fayoumis x Australorp. I'm not 100% sure on the breed, but this is the only one with a white wing tip, and the only other birds I've had that had white tip here were Australorps. We had 3 Australorp hens, and 2 pullets during the time if the experiment. This is the only chick that I believe to be Fayoumis x Australorp. The other black chick hatched from a blue egg (EE) and I've kept my eye on that one. *Notice the mis-colored tip of the middle toe? The middle toe on both feet have this. That makes it easy to spot this one.



This is the most feisty of the chicks...the one cock-fighting with my favorite "girl" every day now. He's a Fayoumis x BR, and there are 6 of these...all looking like their BR moms.



Another Fayoumis x BR. This one has the largest comb of the EF/BR crosses. I can't tell if the marks on his back are BR barring, or Fayoumis spotting. Barring on the wings is obvious whne you spread them out, but I did not get a photo of them.





TWINS! Fayoumis x EE. Really, I wonder if Skylark and this chick had the same mother. The chick looks exactly like Skylark did at this age, but has more feathers (we are feeding a higher protein ration this time). Compare to Post #15 when Skylark was 3 weeks old.
This chick is the one I thought for sure was a girl until it started fighting with the BR cross. (The runt in the group picture in the post above is also a Fayoumis x EE. We had a total of 3 of this cross that hatched.)

 

[davemonkey]

The comb isn't screaming rooster right now, but I figured that since Skylark was the same coloring this chick was probably a rooster as well.

Probably. RATS!

Oh well, at least I know I've got an AWESOME cockerel who hopefully will be just as good a Roo later on!

I mean, he just up and adopted 18 babies and has been raising them since he was only 4 weeks old. That is SO cool!

 

[davemonkey]

Next up are the Fayoumis x EE. There are also 3 of these, and 1 is MUCH smaller. I have been watching her and she is constantly in the feeder eating. I think she may have a problem actually getting food into her mouth, or she has some digestive disorder...hard to tell. I thought she might just be a "runt of the litter", but her feathering is not as filled in as the others'.

Number 1






Number 2 (my favorite so far)





Number 3 (the tiny one)





Comparison shot of the tiny girl next to her same-age siblings. (I used this dog-crate to trap them so I could take all these photos. She slipped out through the cracks, then back in, then back out, like it was nothing.)